The treadmill, elliptical machine or the static bike are all good for cardio, but if you want to break the monotony and change things up, you should try swimming for cardio. Swimming is a great whole body exercise that works upper and lower body muscles almost equally. And because the resistance of water is roughly 12 times greater than the resistance of air, you also get a type of muscle building workout, not just a cardiovascular workout.
5 main benefits of swimming
There are many reasons to incorporate swimming into your fitness plan, but here are the most important ones:
1. Great cardiovascular workout
Swimming is a great cardio workout. Swimming for a period of time is far more intense compared to running for the same length of time. Because you use both upper and lower body to move yourself through the water and more muscle is used, you burn more calories than jogging, running or static bike where upper body and core muscles are used to a lesser degree.
2. Awesome strength workout
Water has much greater density and resistance than air, which means you will get a great resistance workout as well. Prepare for some serious soreness after the first few swimming workouts. In order to move trough water you move your muscles differently than when you lift weights. This movement builds muscle mass in the shoulder girdle and upper back and triceps (when swimming freestyle and butterfly).
3. Low impact cardio exercise
Unlike running and lifting weights where your bones and joints are under constant pressure, swimming is a low impact cardio exercise which doesn’t cause stress to your bones and joints.
Water’s buoyancy supports your body-weight, allowing smooth body movements. This benefit may not seem as something special when you’re young, but as you get older, reducing the impact on your joints means a lot to your overall health.
4. Suitable exercise for overweight people
Not everybody is able to start running or walking to lose weight. Overweight people especially have this problem. For them it’s much easier to do some cardio in water than on a hard surface because, like we mentioned, water supports your body weight.
5. Great exercise for those coming back from an injury
All the listed benefits make swimming a perfect exercise for people that suffered an injury and are getting back in shape. This is great news for those who are heavily involved in sports, as one of the biggest concerns regarding injuries is the time it takes to rehabilitate and get back in shape.
How to start swimming?
If you are going to swim just for general fitness and cardio you can do 3 – 30-45 minute workouts a week. If you are out of shape you can start by swimming 10-15 minutes and gradually increase the time.
If you want to get in great shape, you can do 2-3 30-45 minute swimming workouts and add 2 weight lifting workouts – either full body or upper-lower split.
If you are already in good shape and want to take it to the next level you can even try doing HIIT in water. Try doing 5 to 10 20 second sprints with 40 second rest periods in between.
With the summer in front of us, it’s a good idea to switch your regular cardio exercise with swimming. Try it, you won’t be disappointed.
